'Slum pope' tells slum residents not to lose hope

1of 2Pope Francis, reaching out to kiss a child as he makes his way through Copacabana beachfront crowds, says, “I want to see the church get closer to the people. I want to get rid of clericalism, the mundane, this closing ourselves off within ourselves.”Photo: Domenico Stinellis / Associated Press

2of 2Pope Francis blesses a disabled child during his visit to the Varginha shantytown in Rio de Janeiro.Photo: Luca Zennaro / Getty Images

RIO DE JANEIRO — Pope Francis, dubbed the “slum pope” for his work with the poor, received a rapturous welcome Thursday from one of Rio's most violent shantytowns and demanded the world's wealthy end the injustices that have left the poor on the margins of society.

He received an even more frenzied welcome as he opened a rain-soaked World Youth Day in a far different setting: Rio's upscale Copacabana beach.

In between, he showed off some of his offbeat — almost rebellious — personality, telling pilgrims from his native Argentina that he wanted them to make trouble, shake things up in their dioceses and make a “mess” by going out into the streets to spread the faith.

“We knew that in Rio there would be great disorder, but I want trouble in the dioceses!” he said.

“I want to see the church get closer to the people. I want to get rid of clericalism, the mundane, this closing ourselves off within ourselves, in our parishes, schools or structures. Because these need to get out!”

He put that into practice on Thursday.

Amid the stench of raw sewage and the shrieks of residents, Francis made his way through the Varginha shantytown, part of a region so violent it's known as the Gaza Strip.

The 76-year-old Argentine seemed entirely at home, wading into the cheering crowds, kissing residents young and old and telling them the Roman Catholic Church was on their side.

It was a message aimed at reversing the decline in the numbers of Catholics in most of Latin America, with many poor worshippers leaving the church for Pentecostal and evangelical congregations.

Those churches have taken up a huge presence in favelas, or shantytowns such as Varginha, attracting souls with nuts-and-bolts advice on how to improve their lives.

“No one can remain insensitive to the inequalities that persist in the world!” Francis told a crowd of thousands who braved a cold rain and stood in a muddy soccer field to welcome him.

“No amount of peace-building will be able to last, nor will harmony and happiness be attained in a society that ignores, pushes to the margins or excludes a part of itself.”

It was one of the highlights of Francis' weeklong trip to Brazil, his first as pope and one seemingly tailor-made for the first pontiff from the Americas.

Later Thursday, he traveled in his open-sided car through a massive crowd in the pouring rain to a welcoming ceremony on Copacabana beach.

It was his first official event with the hundreds of thousands of young people who have flocked to Rio for World Youth Day.